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Multiple-Meaning Words

A multiple-meaning word is spelled and said the same way but means different things: a bat flies at night, and you hit a ball with a bat. Context is the only clue, which is why these words are such good reading practice.

Here are 124 multiple-meaning words from past ClueBy puzzles, each with a real example sentence for every meaning. Use them as a reference, or make a printable worksheet below.

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Students read each sentence and write the missing word. Every word appears in several sentences, each time with a different meaning.

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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  2. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  3. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  4. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  5. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  6. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  7. He was locked up in a ________________.
  8. The ________________ market has crashed.
  9. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  10. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  11. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  12. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  13. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  14. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  15. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  16. David sat on the ________________.
  17. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  18. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  19. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  20. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  21. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  22. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  23. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  24. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com

Answer key

  1. capital — money
  2. capital — a big letter
  3. stock — goods
  4. pound — to hit hard
  5. shower — rain
  6. board — a committee
  7. cell — in a prison
  8. stock — shares
  9. shower — to wash
  10. cell — a phone
  11. pound — for dogs
  12. pound — a weight
  13. wave — a sudden rise
  14. shower — a meteor shower
  15. board — a flat piece
  16. swing — to play on
  17. board — to get on
  18. cell — in biology
  19. stock — a soup base
  20. swing — music
  21. wave — with your hand
  22. swing — in golf
  23. capital — a city
  24. wave — of the sea

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

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Frequently asked questions

What are multiple-meaning words?

Words with the same spelling and pronunciation but more than one meaning, like bark (of a dog or of a tree) or bank (for money or of a river). You can only tell which meaning is meant from the rest of the sentence.

Are multiple-meaning words the same as homonyms?

Mostly, yes. Teachers often use "multiple-meaning words" and "homonyms" for the same idea. Homophones are different: they sound alike but are spelled differently, like flour and flower.

Are the worksheets free?

Yes. Make and print as many as you like for home or classroom use. Each sheet has its own link, so you can print the same one again.

Where do the words come from?

From past ClueBy puzzles, a daily game where you sort twelve sentences by their missing word. A new puzzle every day adds four more words to this list.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com